Stupid question? No such thing.

Here are a few of the most-asked ones.

+What exactly does Calypso do?

We help companies create a strong brand and create a strategy to position them for growth. How? We have our exceptional team of designer, marketer, and public relations professionals sit down with you to discuss your business goals. We listen to your needs and then work with you to create a comprehensive strategy and plan. If you need us to, we can enact that plan and help you measure it and adapt to changing markets and opportunities. Or if you want to handle it on your own, that’s cool too. We want what’s best for you.

+Can you help me attract new leads?

New leads? Is there something wrong with the leads you already have? They aren’t buying? Well, that does sound like a problem. Let’s explore that further. We’ll tell you what — if everything else seems to be working, we can definitely work on getting you new leads.

+Do you create websites?

We do. We develop, design, and write copy for several websites each year. Heck, we made this one.

+Do you work with clients outside of New England?

Is New Jersey in New England? What about Detroit? If those count as outside of New England, then yes. While much of our work comes from New Hampshire and our surrounding states and commonwealths (shout-out to Massachusetts), we can do work for clients anywhere in the world. So long as there is internet.

+ Do you do work on a retainer or project basis?

While we occasionally take once-off project work, more often than not we tend to turn it down. Why? We really like to get to know our partners, become part of their team, and help them realize their growth. We prefer long-term partnerships where we can understand the needs of the business and work to align those needs with the goals of the marketing and communications teams.

We know not all relationships last a lifetime, but we enjoy the long and meaningful ones. Call us romantics.

+Can you help me get media coverage?

If getting media coverage makes sense, sure. But that’s not where we start. We start with your team and our team sitting down with one another and discussing the current state of your company and where you’d like to go. Then we talk about the strategies to get you there. If media coverage is part of that plan, then yeah, we’ll get that for you. We know people.

Need more? Blogs can account for 38% of your overall web traffic. They can also help you diversify your keyword options, which in turn can help you rank better in Google. (Or Bing, if that’s what you prefer.) The point is: blogs are a great tool for your website. And yes, people read them.

+Should I be on Snapchat?

You don’t need to be on every social network. You don’t even need to be on most of them. Here’s our advice, free of charge: Be on the one(s) that will help you speak to your potential customers. Let’s be honest — not everyone is going to be your customer. Snapchat trends younger (under 30). If you’re a B2B hoping to strike deals with the C-suite and senior executives, Snapchat will not help you. But LinkedIn will. And maybe Twitter. But don’t overextend your team. Perfect your use on one or two networks.

Many people assume video marketing begins and ends with commercials, but that’s not true. There are several types of video that can help you strengthen your brand and convert visitors into leads and leads into customers. You can have a brand spot that helps describe your company, employee spotlights to bring out the personality of your business, product explainer videos, testimonials, lecture series... the list goes on.

+Why do I need a professional to implement my campaign?

Would you go to an accountant if you had a toothache? Then why would you ask Margaret, your very capable and professional operations manager, to suddenly take on a Google Adwords campaign? Throw Margaret a bone — get her an agency partner.

You’re an expert at what you do, so you understand that it takes a dedicated and skilled person like you to do your job effectively. That’s our belief, too. Our team lives and breathes this stuff. We study brands, read the latest news and techniques for reaching new audiences, and try out tools to help our partners grow their businesses.

+Why the integrated approach? I just need a website/brochure/logo/what-have-you.

When caring for your car, you don’t only pay attention to your windshield wipers. You check your tire pressure and tread, change the oil, wash and polish the exterior, detail the interior... A holistic and comprehensive approach keeps your car running efficiently and prolongs its life.

The same is true for your brand. You can keep it on a project-by-project basis, but the chance of misalignment, fractured messaging, and inconsistent experience grows. You run the risk of confusing or alienating your potential customer.

That’s why we like to look at the big picture. Yes, we can make you the brochure you need for next year’s trade show. But first, we ask ourselves: in what way does this brochure help you achieve your goals? What will it look like in relation to all of your other brochures, and how can we elevate your current brand identity and get you more business?

+What's the turnaround time for a typical project?

Our first priority is to give you a high-quality product that works best for you. We’ve worked on tight deadlines, and we've worked on projects that have spanned many years. The timeline always depends on the extent of a project and how many hands we need to complete it.

When working with our partners, we do our best to be transparent about time and progress. Branding projects can take, at minimum, a few weeks. Websites tend to take between three and four months. A marketing campaign strategy will take a couple of weeks. Of course, these are all estimates. And the more history we have with your company, the quicker some of these projects will be.

+What will it cost?

We hate to do this, but it really just depends. Here’s what we CAN say: If you have a clear picture of your budget and come to us for work, we can give you a realistic sense of what we can achieve within that budget. We don’t slide our prices based on budgets, but we do understand that not everyone has sixty grand to drop on a website. Talk with us, and we will be truthful about how we can help.

+How often should we update or redesign our website?

Probably more often than you want to. Updates to plugins, copy, offerings, leadership, etc. should be constant. If no one has touched the backend of your website in a month, you’ve got an issue. Redesigns happen over a longer period of time. But not much longer. In all honesty, most sites are outdated after two or three years. The internet and the devices people use to surf the web are evolving at a rapid clip, and like it or not, it’s up to us to keep up.

But the real indicator of when to update your website doesn’t have much to do with technology. Your website is one of your most important business assets. As such, it should serve the specific purpose of getting you customers. If you no longer are receiving customers from your website, or the number is on a downward trend, now is the time to update your website.

+How do you measure results?

We measure the most meaningful results for your business goals. If the goal is more sales, then we measure leads, conversion rates, and customers acquired. If you're hoping to grow brand awareness or subscribers, then we measure visits, downloads, emails, etc. We have the capabilities to basically measure any digital interaction we want. The only results that matter, though, are the ones that align directly with your goals. So those are the ones we focus on.

+What the heck is a brand guide and why do we need one?

A brand guide is like user manual. Everyone thinks they don’t need it, but the second you need to sync up your cable remote, it’s the only place to find the codes.

It details everything anyone (inside or outside of your company) would need to know about the purpose and identity of your brand. It holds your key message points, information about your audiences, the meaning of your logo, the fonts and colors you use and why, and clearly explains the mission and purpose of your company.

You need a brand guide to help your team create a seamless and consistent experience for your customers. You need a brand guide to ignite passion and purpose in your employees. You need a brand guide because it will help guide the growth of your company.

+Yeah, but do you have experience in my industry?

Industry experience may matter to you, and we get why, but it doesn’t matter much to us. Mainly because we help businesses solve their marketing and branding needs, not their industry needs. For us, the two types of needs can be separated. If you need to build a website or convert more visitors into leads, those are problems we can solve independent of your industry.

That’s not to say that we will not learn about your industry. We will research the heck out of your industry. But our focus will be on developing the right message, targeting the right audience, and designing the perfect suite of graphics and the most effective website for your business to grow.